JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in April 2016 in Houston, announcing a partnership to tackle the middle-skills jobs gap and move 1,000 underemployed individuals from low-wage jobs to better-paying work. ( ... more

Photo: Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle

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A JPMorgan Chase bank branch in New York City in February 2015. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A JPMorgan Chase bank branch in New York City in February 2015. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

JPMorgan follows Starbucks lead in pay hikes

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A day after Starbucks announced pay raises for employees, JPMorgan Chase followed suit by pledging to raise its baseline minimum pay by $6.35 an hour over the next three years to $16.50.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is based in New York City and is the third largest bank in Fairfield County as ranked by deposits and branches, with nearly 50 offices in all. As of March 31, the company reported having 182,000 jobs on a full-time equivalent basis to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., about 6,000 fewer than in March 2015 with the company closing branches nationally the past few years as more people bank online.

In a Tuesday op-ed piece in the New York Times, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the pay increases for rank-and-file employees is “the right thing to do” in his words while noting other benefits and training offered by the bank.

“Too many people are not getting a fair opportunity to get ahead,” Dimon stated. “We must find ways to help them move up the economic ladder, and everyone — business, government and nonprofits — needs to play a role ... It is true that some businesses cannot afford to raise wages right now. But every business can do its part through whatever ways work best for it and its community.”

JPMorgan Chase estimated Dimon’s compensation at $27 million last year, a 35 percent increase from 2014.